O R D E R

The petitioner is the accused in S.C.No.1158 of 2021, which is now pending before the Fast Track Special Court (For Trial of Cases Relating to Atrocities and Sexual Violence against Women and Children), Aluva. The offences alleged against the petitioner are under Sections 342, 323, 506, 376(2) (f) of the Indian Penal Code. The said case is arising from Crime No.840 of 2021 of Forth Kochi Police Station.

2. Initially, after completing the legal formalities, the matter was committed to the Sessions Court, Ernakulam. Later, the petitioner received summons from the Fast Track Special Court (For Trial of Cases Relating to Atrocities and Sexual Violence against Women and Children), Aluva requiring him to appear before the said court. He has already entered appearance. It is pointed out that, the petitioner is a resident of Fort Kochi and most of the witnesses cited by the prosecution are also hailing from Fort Kochi. Therefore, the making over of the said case to a court at Aluva is causing prejudice to the petitioner and also to the other witnesses. Apart from the above, it was also contended that, the court at Aluva is a Special Court constituted for the purpose of POCSO offences and as far as the present case is concerned, no offence under the POCSO Act is incorporated. The learned counsel for the petitioner places reliance upon the observations made by the Honourable Supreme Court in In Re:Alarming Rise in the Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents v. [2019 KHC 4934] , wherein the guidelines for establishing the special courts for the trial of POCSO cases have been formulated. Guideline No.

(i) in the above judgment reads as follows:

“(i) In each district of the country, if there are more than 100 cases under the POCSO Act, an exclusive/designated special Court will be set up, which will try no other offence except those under the POCSO Act.”

3. It is pointed out that, as per the aforesaid observation, the Special Court constituted is only for the purpose of trial of POCSO cases, and no other offences except offences under POCSO Act can be tried by the said court. According to the petitioner, since the court at Aluva is a Special Court and the offence against the petitioner is not coming under the provisions of the POCSO Act, the trial of the said case before the said court is not proper.

4. I have heard Sri.Ashik K.Mohamed Ali, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri.C.S.Hrithwik, learned Public Prosecutor for the State.

5. On perusal of the records, I find some force in the contention put forward by the learned counsel for the petitioner. It is discernible from the records that all the parties in the aforesaid litigation are from Fort Kochi, and indeed, it would cause prejudice to the petitioner for contesting the matter before a court at Aluva, which is a little far away from their place.

6. Apart from the above, the Court at Aluva is a Special Court, which is specifically constituted for POCSO offences. No offences of that nature have been alleged against the petitioner herein. In such circumstances, I am inclined to grant the relief sought by the petitioner.

Accordingly, this Transfer Petition is allowed directing the transfer of S.C.No.1158 of 2021 from the Fast Track Special Court (For Trial of Cases Relating to Atrocities and Sexual Violence against Women and Children), Aluva to any other court at Ernakulam. Learned Principal Sessions Court, Ernakulam shall pass appropriate orders in this regard, for making over the case to any of the competent courts in Ernakulam.